We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mark Grochowski a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is a photographic series called “Alone Together.” It started as a collaboration with my aerialist friend, Megan. And it really flourished during the lockdown days of COVID. It was a lifeline back into my art and creativity and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore and capture New York City.

Mark, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My path to my current artistic career is winding and unexpected. I originally came to NYC to work in the music industry where I spent about 7 years. It was an exiciting but ultimately unfulfilling time. There’s that old saying: “music is like sausage, it’s better to enjoy the final product than see how it is made.” After leaving the industry, my unfiltered love of music (and overall happiness) returned.

Luckily, during that time I picked up programming which led to my next pivot as a programmer. This work appealed to the logical and problem solving part of my brain. Ultimately though, it was just a job and not my passion. Fortunately, after not getting into a Master’s program for computer science, I decided on a whim to take a photography class – something that always captured my imagination and attention. It was instantly clear to me that photography was something that would fascinate and consume me for the rest of my life.

So after being laid off from a programming job with severance, I cashed out a pension plan and decided to pursue photography full time. And have never looked back. As traumatic as the COVID years were for most people, the silver lining for me was having time to uplevel my skills as a videographer, cinematographer and editor.

The services I provide boil down to helping companies and individuals tells stories in engaging ways. Most of my work focuses (pun?) on camera-related work whether via still imagery or motion work i.e. cinematography, motion graphics, editing etc. What sets me apart is my diverse background, sense of humor and flexibility. Collaboration is one of the great joys of creative work. Where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

There is so much in life to experience and learn. This both inspires and motivates me to try to do as much as possible in my limited time here. 3D is my latest obsession, specifically Unreal Engine.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

After being laid off from my last programming job, I knew it was an opportunity to take a leap into the creative/freelance life. It felt like a blessing and an opportunity I may never have again. Life as a programmer was lucrative but soulless for me. It was a struggle to just go through the motions. However, photography lit me up. I knew I could spend the rest of my life learning about and getting better at it. People would always ask if I’d ever got back to programming. And my answer has always been no. I’d rather recycle cans for a living.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is coming up with ideas, sometimes with a team, and sometimes in the moment, on the spot. The flow state really kicks in when doing the problem solving of how to realize that idea to its fullest potential.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.marktomphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marktomphotography/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-grochowski-0096531/